People's Pilot, Volume 5, Number 41, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 16 April 1896 — odd Fellows Favor free Silver. [ARTICLE]

odd Fellows Favor free Silver.

The following editorial is taken from the March 1896, number of the Odd Fellows Souvenir, the national organ of the great fraternity of Odd Fellows. In a personal interview with the editor we are informed that this editorial is the result of much consideration by many of the most conservative members; that this question has been under consideration for more than a year and the official data at hand is so convincing s, that it is useless to attempt to claim that tiiie pres-

ent monetary conditions are working great injury to the order. In pa r t, editor M. F. Dowd said: “The present monetary condition has been a great injury to our order. The official data received at this office show that we lost in 1803, 36,886 members by suspension for non-payment ol dues and in 1894 the number dropped was 48,539, a total of 85,225 for the two years, and it is believed that the official reports for 1895 when' completed will show nearly as many suspensions as in the years 1893. 4 combined. In 1893 we initiated 72,807, while 1894 we initiated 63,845, a decease of nearly 9,000. We have about 800,000 members in the United States and territories.” “Yes, they are all voters. Before a man can become an Odd Fellow he is required to sign a contract which is bindiug alike upon himself and the order, hence it is necessary that he should be 31 years of age. When the situation is properly understood I believe the American people will demand free coinage of silver at the ratio of 16 to 1. The Souvenir does not handle political questions, i. e., from a partisan stand point, nor is the question of finance a partisan question in auy sense of the word. It is, however, a question that vitally affects the great order of Odd Fellows. This is a great benevolent institution and anything that retards tfie progress of the order is a subject entitled te the fullest consideration. A contraction of our currency makes money dear and thus increases the burden of our members. If the purchasing power of money becomes great the price of labor and the products of labor be come less valuable: hence, if the purchasing power of the American dollar is twice as great under the gold standard as it would be under free coinage of both gold and silver at the ratio of 16 to 1 then it will be twice as hard for the members to pay their quarterly dues under the present gold standard as it would be under the free coinage of both gold and silver. It is also twice as hard for those outside of the order to pay the price of admission. When we look over the reports of the various jurisdictions and see the thousands of brothers who are being suspended from the benefits of the order by their inability to pay their dues it is simply appalling. The order now pays out for relief about three and one half mil-. lion dollar4*rraualiy. If the present conditions continue ifOnly a spatter of time when there will have to be a sliding scale—this sliding scale will he to decrease the number of dollars paid for the xelief of members and families of deceased members or increase the dues of members—that the present of dues is as as high now as the members can pay goes without saying. Then the only thing left will be to decrease the benefits. It is argued that we should have only the kipd of money that will pass in all parts of the world. Nothing can be more absurd. Our gold eagles as are now coined are not accepted at their face in all countries of the world and never have been—never will be. It is more difficult to pass gold money in the United States than it is apiece of American silver. Another objection urged against the use of silver is its weight. While a silver dollar is much heavier than a gold dollar it is also true that a laboring man can carry home all the silver dollars he can ever hope to obtain for one week s wages, and if any of our laboring people should desire to make a European voyage they will not object to paying the necessary exchange for money that will be accepted to bear the necessary discount at the other place. WhSJ the Amerjpan people want is enough money keep the Ipborißg classes employed and transact the business of the country, and any money coined, by the United States is honest money, and it is certainly unpatriotic to stamp any of it as anything else. When the greenbacks were first issued by the government there were those who said it was both dishonest and and yet a patriotic people accepted them as money. After the third of a century the back is still accepted and no one wants them more than the banking fraternity, who were tla& original objectors to the issuance. If a bfjjt passes the next congress restoring silver to its place in our currency, i. e., free coinage of gpjj and silver at a ratio of 16 to 1, a patriotic people will accept both for all demands and our members can then find employment and be able to pay their dues. Every Odd Fellow in America should work and vote for-foee coinage of both gold and silver. r \ \ i o-a Generf-l Fitzhugh Lee has been appointed to the important office of Consul General at Havana. It is expected that President Cleveland will give him secrefinstructions to investigate the status of the Cuban revolution. It is safe to say, however, that the United States will “remain neutral” through the overflowing Cuban sympathies of its “marble hearted” executive. ~,7 Secretary Carlisle is a prime fovorite for the honorary nomination which is to be made at Chicago.